L2 The Assassin's Knot (1e)

"If you want someone murdered, go to Garrotten" is a common saying in Restenford. The small, peaceful town of Garrotten is rumored to be the headquarters of a deadly band of assassins. Perhaps there is nothing to this talk. Perhaps it is true. There has never been any reason to find out. Until now.

The Baron of Restenford is dead.

The first day following his death, Restenford was a hornet's nest of activity. No one was allowed to enter or leave. The castle itself was sealed t outsiders as soon as the murder was discovered. Wild rumors hinted that the body was left in a condition that made magical restoration impossible. That evening came an urgent summons from the reclusive sorceror, Pelltar, whose council continued late into the night.

By midmorning of the next day, you were well on your way to Garrotten. Three slender clues are all that remain - three possible chances to unravel the tangled web of intrigue that doomed the Baron of Restenford. The sun is warm, and the land around your is full of life. By nightfall, you will arrive.

For characters levels 2 through 5.

Product History

L2: "The Assassin's Knot" (1983) is the second adventure in the Lendore Isle trilogy and the last one that would be published by TSR. It was commissioned and delivered at the same time as L1: "The Secret of Bone Hill" (1981) - probably in 1980 - and released in 1983.

Towns & Mysteries. "The Assassin's Knot" is unique among early AD&D adventures. Like its predecessor "Bone Hill," it focuses on the description of a town. Unlike its predecessor, that's the whole adventure. The actual plot of the adventure focuses on a murder mystery: The players have to figure out who killed the Baron of Restenford and why. To do so, the players will explore a really open sandbox in the nearby town of Garrotten.

Entirely town-based adventures were just coming into their own at this time, with the few other examples being B6: "The Veiled Society" (1984) and to a lesser extent N1: "Against the Cult of the Reptile God" (1982). They would have been entirely unprecedented when Lakofka originally wrote this adventure. Meanwhile, the idea of an adventure that focused on solving a mystery was almost entirely unknown - though U1: "The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh" (1981) and "Cult of the Reptile God" had moved somewhat in that direction.

Expanding Greyhawk. L2 details the town of Garrotten, adding more background to Lendore Isle and thus making it one of the best described locales in all of Greyhawk at the time. Meanwhile, Lakofka's biggest Lendore Isle-related expansion would appear in the pages of Dragon magazine rather than in the L-series adventures themselves. Lakofka had already decided, based on Gary Gygax's migration charts of early Greyhawk peoples, that Lendore Isle had been settled by the ancient Suel people.

Thus, Lakofka was the best person to describe the gods of the Suels, which he did in six articles from Dragon #86 (June 1984) to Dragon #92 (December 1984). The information is a great expansion to the L-series adventures in particular (and continued to make Lendore Isle the best best-described corner of Greyhawk).

The Original Campaign. Like L1, "The Assassin's Knot" was derived from Lakofka's own Lendore Isle campaign. Rather uniquely, the murder that players investigate is actually the murder of one of the PCs from Lakofka's game.

Future Histories. An adventure on Lendore Isle following the events of L2 can be found in Dungeon #71 (November/December 1998). It's called "Priestly Secrets."

About the Creators. Lakofka continued penning columns for Dragon until April 1986. After that, he stopped working with TSR, apparently because he was very close with Gygax, and the new TSR management was trying to purge all connections to him. This probably was what caused Lakofka's third "L" adventure to never see print at TSR. In fact, Lakofka's corrected text was lost at some point, which would cause problems when Wizards of the Coast finally decided to publish "L3" in 1999.

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

This adventure is unusual for adventure published in those years in the sense that it relies heavily on the players investigative skills. After the introduction, the adventure starts with a description of the events that trigger this adventure: the cha [...]

I bought this on the strength of the recommendations alone. I have not read thru this yet. I bought this on the strength of the recommendations alone. I have not read thru this yet. I bought this on the strength of the recommendations alone. I hav [...]

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